Spay Incontinence

[misslofly]

My 2 yr. old yorkie was diagnosed with spay incontinence. From what I have read, and from my vet it usually happens in larger dogs. It is also from when you get your dog spayed at an early age (before their first season). I had my dog spayed when she was 6months old and she recently started showing signs of this problem. When she is sleeping, or relaxed, she will empty her bladder (unknowingly) either a little bit or completely. The vet gave me PROIN 50mg to give to her twice daily (1/8 tablet in morning and evening). I had a urinalysis done to check for a UTI, and unfortunately it wasn't that. So, I'm supposed to keep my little one on this medication for the rest of her life!
My question is, has anybody else with a yorkie had this problem? If so, what kind of medication is being given and any other advice?

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by misslofly

My 2 yr. old yorkie was diagnosed with spay incontinence. From what I have read, and from my vet it usually happens in larger dogs. It is also from when you get your dog spayed at an early age (before their first season). I had my dog spayed when she was 6months old and she recently started showing signs of this problem. When she is sleeping, or relaxed, she will empty her bladder (unknowingly) either a little bit or completely. The vet gave me PROIN 50mg to give to her twice daily (1/8 tablet in morning and evening). I had a urinalysis done to check for a UTI, and unfortunately it wasn't that. So, I'm supposed to keep my little one on this medication for the rest of her life!
My question is, has anybody else with a yorkie had this problem? If so, what kind of medication is being given and any other advice?

i'm sorry your yorkie has this problem. its rare in any dog, and even rarer in small dogs. Proin is commonly used and doesn't have any side effects that i know of. Once you get her medication under control you won't even know she has a problem

[Lorraine]

Originally Posted by misslofly

My 2 yr. old yorkie was diagnosed with spay incontinence. From what I have read, and from my vet it usually happens in larger dogs. It is also from when you get your dog spayed at an early age (before their first season). I had my dog spayed when she was 6months old and she recently started showing signs of this problem. When she is sleeping, or relaxed, she will empty her bladder (unknowingly) either a little bit or completely. The vet gave me PROIN 50mg to give to her twice daily (1/8 tablet in morning and evening). I had a urinalysis done to check for a UTI, and unfortunately it wasn't that. So, I'm supposed to keep my little one on this medication for the rest of her life!
My question is, has anybody else with a yorkie had this problem? If so, what kind of medication is being given and any other advice?

First of all, it is not true that it is from spaying at an early age. My now 7 year old bitch was spayed after her second litter of puppies and she developed the problem a couple of years later at about 5 years of age. She is on Stilbesterol, a hormone. She only needs 1/2 tab once a week. Some with the problem will need more.

[kalina82]

Originally Posted by Lorraine

First of all, it is not true that it is from spaying at an early age. My now 7 year old bitch was spayed after her second litter of puppies and she developed the problem a couple of years later at about 5 years of age. She is on Stilbesterol, a hormone. She only needs 1/2 tab once a week. Some with the problem will need more.

Lorraine is right. it has nothing to do with getting it done at an early age. it can happen at any age. in my experience i usually see it when an older dog is spayed

[misslofly]

Thank you all for your information. It is great to hear of others who have had similar experiences.

[elleandca]

ohh wow that isn't good

we are having our 2 girls spayed soon arghh a little freaked out now

[misslofly]

Originally Posted by elleandca

ohh wow that isn't good

we are having our 2 girls spayed soon arghh a little freaked out now

It's not the worst that can happen - just a little inconvenient. I guess you need to weigh the pros and cons of spaying since this type of thing is a possibility. But, I'm not against spaying because of this, its not that bad to deal with.

[monicawhy]

Hi, I have experienced very similar issues to what has been described above. My 2 year old Yorkie, Lilly, is 100% completely housebroken; but when we get all cuddly at night on the sofa watching TV, she falls asleep on my stomach and releases about 1-2 oz. of urine on me or the sofa. I'm grateful to see above that there might be drug therapy to help treat it. I don't want to end our nightly affection-fests.

[theziggs]

I don't think it has much to do with spaying. Our five year old, Martini, has had a pee pee problem her whole life. She is on Proin and DES to help control her 'dripping'. She still drips while walking but I'm aftaid if I take her off the meds that it would be much worse. I'm considering getting her diapers but I'm afraid that might just confuse her. I'm tired of mopping the floors ten times (or more) a day!

[Gingergirlsmom]

Bernie has a neurological incontinence as a result of being hit by a car as a young pup. He's been on Proin for 2 years. We played around with the dosage for the first bit, the only side-effect I've noticed is he gets really thirsty if the dosage is too high.

This may seem silly, but get a pill-minder. It's amazing how easy it is to forget whether or not you gave the med this morning, and I find Proin only works well when it is consistently administered.

Good luck!

[misslofly]

"This may seem silly, but get a pill-minder. It's amazing how easy it is to forget whether or not you gave the med this morning, and I find Proin only works well when it is consistently administered."


If I may ask, what is the dosage you give your dog, including the weight of your dog?
If you can't tell already, I'm a little paranoid about giving my dog medication and I like to double-triple check with others to make sure my dog was prescribed correctly to prevent overdosing.
Maya takes 1/8 50mg tab of Proin twice daily. I was told there was nothing smaller to give her.
Also, after having her take the medication twice a day for about two months, I attempted to wean her off a little (taking it 1xdaily), and the leaking came back with a vengeance.

[misslofly]

Originally Posted by monicawhy

Hi, I have experienced very similar issues to what has been described above. My 2 year old Yorkie, Lilly, is 100% completely housebroken; but when we get all cuddly at night on the sofa watching TV, she falls asleep on my stomach and releases about 1-2 oz. of urine on me or the sofa. I'm grateful to see above that there might be drug therapy to help treat it. I don't want to end our nightly affection-fests.

I'm glad that there are similar experiences out there...although at the same time it makes me a little sad.
I was never told directly that this was "spay incontinence" but from research, I came to the conclusion of this title. This is because of her age, activity level, no other health problems, and the fact that she has been spayed.
I read that a possibility is having a urinary tract infection, so I made sure to get the urinalysis done to test for this, but it came back negative.

If you do take your dog to the vet to get medication, if you don't mind, can you let me know what she was given, and how much? Thank you for your response, and your story.

[Gingergirlsmom]

Originally Posted by misslofly

"This may seem silly, but get a pill-minder. It's amazing how easy it is to forget whether or not you gave the med this morning, and I find Proin only works well when it is consistently administered."


If I may ask, what is the dosage you give your dog, including the weight of your dog?
If you can't tell already, I'm a little paranoid about giving my dog medication and I like to double-triple check with others to make sure my dog was prescribed correctly to prevent overdosing.
Maya takes 1/8 50mg tab of Proin twice daily. I was told there was nothing smaller to give her.
Also, after having her take the medication twice a day for about two months, I attempted to wean her off a little (taking it 1xdaily), and the leaking came back with a vengeance.

Bernie's a big guy, approximately 13 lbs (we go for his annual this week, I think he's closer to 14). He gets 25 mg two times a day. Any less and he leaks like crazy.

I haven't come across anyone who's had problems with Proin. I thinks as medications go, it's pretty safe.

[KellyV]

Originally Posted by misslofly

Maya takes 1/8 50mg tab of Proin twice daily. I was told there was nothing smaller to give her.

I think Proin comes in 25mg too. You would only have to quarter the tablets then, might be easier than trying to cut a 50mg into eighths.... Though in the long term it's probably cheaper to stick with the 50mg size.

[mimimomo]

I've read somewhere on YT that the chances of the female ever getting mammary gland cancer is zero when spayed before her 1st heat. Urinary incontinence can be easily treated & there are different ways/meds out there, yet cancer is not so easy.